Fastener attaching device



Oct. 7, 1969 A. R. BONE FASTENER ATTACHING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Shee t 1Filed Mar n a. 1968 if lll llllllll l Oct. 7, 1969 A. R. BONE 3,470,834

FASTENER ATTACHING DEVICE Filed March a, 1968 l 2 Sheets-Sheet UnitedStates Patent 3,470,834 FASTENER ATTACHING DEVICE Arnold R. Bone,Needham, Mass., assignor to Dennison Manufacturing Company, Framingham,Mass., a corporation of Nevada Filed Mar. 8, 1968, Ser. No. 711,771 Int.Cl. DOSb 3/12, 1/00; A4111 31/00 US. Cl. 112-104 9 Claims ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE Objects of the invention are to provide a device of thiskind which is economical to produce, which is convenient to use andwhich is durable in use.

In one aspect of this invention the device comprises a casing, a needleprojecting from the casing, the needle having a central bore, and aplunger slidable back and forth in the bore, the needle comprising anelongate piece of sheet material bent into a tube with its edges spacedapart to provide a longitudinal slot along one side of said bore, theforward end of the needle being pointed and the rearward end having atail for securing the needle in the aforesaid casing, the diameter ofsaid bore being slightly larger than that of the bar of a fastener suchas hereinafter described so that the bar may slide lengthwise in theneedle with said filament extending through said slot, and the devicehaving a fastener passageway in advance of said plunger when the plungeris retracted. Preferably the casing comprises two parts secured t0-gether with abutting faces disposed in a plane extending approximatelyalong the axis of said needle, the casing having a guideway for saidplunger and a recess to receive the aforesaid tail, and said tailcomprises lateral ears.

In another aspect the device has a fastener passageway in advance ofsaid plunger when the plunger is retracted, characterized in that saidcasing is tubular and a handle telescopes over the casing from the rear,the rear end of said plunger being anchored in said handle so as to bemoved back and forth by back-and-forth movement of the handle relativelyto the casing. Preferably the device has a spring extending between thecasing and handle for actuating the plunger, the handle has an open rearend and a cap snaps into the open end, said spring bearing on the handlethrough the medium of said cap.

In a further aspect the invention involves a device for attachingfasteners of the type in which the fasteners are interconnected in astrip by a stringer connected to the bars by necks with the filaments inparallel juxtaposition and the bars extending transversely of thestringer in parallel juxtaposition, the device comprising a tubularcasing, a needle projecting from one end of the casing, the needlehaving a central bore and a tail mounted in the casing, and the casinghaving a bore in alignment with said bore, a plunger slidable back andforth in said bores, the casing having a passageway for said strip, thepassageway extending transversely of the casing and intersecting saidcasing bore so that said bars may be brought successively into alignmentwith said bores, a rotor having notches in its periphery meshing withsaid necks to feed the bars to the casing bore, the rotor extendingoutwardly through a slot in the casing so that it is rotatable by hand,said casing comprising two parts secured together with abutting facesdisposed in a plane extending approximately along the axes of saidbores, the casing having recesses forming said casing bore andpassageway. tPreferably the device also comprises a detent foryieldingly holding the rotor with a bar in alignment with said bores anda spring for actuating both said plunger and said detent.

In still another aspect the device comprises a tubular casing, a needleprojecting from one end of the casing, the needle having a central boreand a tail mounted in the casing, and the casing having a bore inalignment with said bore, a plunger slidable back and forth in saidbores, the casing having a passageway for said strip, the passagewayextending transversely of the casing and intersecting said casing boreso that said bars may be brought successively into alignment with saidbores, the rear end of said needle comprising a cutting edge disposedimmediately in front of said passageway to sever each of said necks asthe associated bar is advanced by the plunger.

For the purpose of illustration a typical embodiment of the invention isshown in the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is a plan view with apart broken away and a part in section;

FIG. 2 is a side view;

FIG. 3 is a section on line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a similar section with the handle and plunger in advancedposition, the rotor being advancing and the detent retracted;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged section of the front end of the device on line 3-3of FIG. 1 with the plunger in advanced position to push a bar through abutton and material;

FIG. 6 is a similar section after the device has been withdrawn;

FIG. 7 is an elevation of a strip of fasteners;

FIG. 8 is a section on line 88 of FIG. 1 showing a fastener in positionto be inserted;

FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 are sections on lines 9-9, 10-10 and 11-11 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of the needle;

FIG. 13 is a side view of the needle; and

FIG. 14 is a plan view of the blank from which the needle is formed.

The particular embodiment of the invention chosen for the purpose ofillustration is especially useful for attaching fasteners of the typedisclosed in application Ser. No. 633,256 of Francis G. Merser, nowPatent No. 3,399,- 432, and as shown in FIGS. 5 to 8. These fastenersare made of polyurethane or other plastic material which is resilientand each comprises a filament 1 having a head 2 on one end and atransverse bar 3 on the other end, the three parts being moldedintegrally. Preferably the fasteners are interconnected in strip form bya stringer 4 joined to the bars 3 by necks 6 having reduced portions 7adjacent the bars to facilitate separation of the fasteners from thestringer without leaving projecting stubs on the bars. Preferably thereduced portions taper toward the bars so that the necks are severedclose to the bars. One use of the fastener is to attach a button 8 tofabric 9 (FIGS. and 6).

The present invention involves a device comprising a casing 11, a needle12 projecting from the casing, the needle having a central bore 13 andthe casing having an aligned bore, and a plunger 16 slidable back andforth in the bores. Preferably the needle comprises a piece of sheetmaterial such as shown in FIG. 14 bent into tubular shape with its edgesspaced apart to form a slot 17, the forward end of the needle beingpointed and the rearward end having lateral ears 18 forming a tail 19the free end of which is beveled to form a knife 21 for severing theaforesaid necks 6 successively as the strip of fasteners is fed throughthe device. The diameter of the aforesaid bores is slightly larger thanthat of the bars so that the bars may slide through the needle with thefilaments extending through the slot 17, the device having a transversefastener passageway 22 in advance of the plunger when the plunger is inthe retracted position shown in FIG. 3. The strip of fasteners is fedthrough the passageway by a rotor 23 having notches 24 in its peripheryto mesh with the necks 6 as shown in FIG. 8. The rotor projects fromeach side of the casing (FIG. 1) so that it can be turned by thumb andfinger, and it is held in position to align successive bars 3 with theaforesaid bores by a detent 26 which is snapped by a spring 27 from theretracted posit-ion shown in FIG. 4 to the holding position shown inFIG. 3 where its rounded nose extends into a notch 24. As shown in FIGS.1, and 11 the casing is made in two parts which abut on a verticalcentral plane 28 and are secured together in any suitable manner as bycement or, if molded of thermoplastic material, with heat and pressure.In molding the parts recesses are formed in the abutting faces for theaforesaid needle, plunger and rotor.

Telescoping over the casing 11 from the rear is a handle 29 having anopen rear end closed by a cap 31. The bandle is tubular with a slot 32along the top. The cap has lugs 33 which snap into openings in thehandle and a hook 34 which snaps into the casing 11 to limit therearward movement of the handle in response to spring 27. The rear end36 of the plunger is hooked into an opening in the cap so as to moveback and forth with the handle.

In use the strip of fasteners is fed into the passageway 22 by turningrotor 23 with thumb and finger until a bar 3 is in alignment with thebore 13, the needle 12 is inserted through a button 8 and fabric 9 andthe plunger 16 is advanced to insert the bar through the button andfabric to the position shown in FIG. 5, the filament 1 being stretchedsomewhat. Inasmuch as the filament is resilient the parts of thefastener automatically assume the positions shown in FIG. 6 when theneedle is withdrawn. When forward pressure on the handle is released thespring 27 snaps it and the plunger from the advanced position shown inFIG. 4 to the retracted position shown in FIG. 3. The rotor is thenadvanced another step to bring the next bar 3 into alignment with theplunger.

From the foregoing it will be evident that the spring 27 serves the dualpurpose of actuating both plunger 16 and detent 26. It will also beevident that the round-nose detent holds the foremost bar 3 in alignmentwith the bores in the casing and needle. This is important because thebar is elastic and would tend to jam when forced forward by the plungerif it were not in exact alignment.

I claim:

1. For attaching a fastener of the type having a flexible filament witha transverse bar on one end of the filament, a device comprising acasing, a needle projecting from the casing, the needle having a centralbore, and a plunger slidable back and forth in the bore, the needlecomprising an elongate piece of sheet material bent into a tube with itsedges spaced apart to provide a longitudinal slot along one side of saidbore, the forward end of the needle being pointed and the rearward endhaving a tail for securing the needle in the aforesaid casing, thediameter of said bore being slightly larger than that of said bar sothat the bar may slide lengthwise in the needle with said filamentextending through said slot, and the device having a fastener passagewayin advance of said plunger when the plunger is retracted.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said casing comprises twoparts secured together with abutting faces disposed in a plane extendingapproximately along the axis of said needle, the casing having aguideway for said plunger and a recess to receive the aforesaid tail.

3. A device according to claim 1 wherein said tail comprises lateralears.

4. For attaching a fastener of the type having a flexible filament witha transverse bar on one end of the filament, a device comprising acasing, a needle projecting from the casing, the needle having a centralbore and a slot along one side, and a plunger slidable back and forth inthe bore, the diameter of said bore being slightly larger than that ofsaid bar so that the bar may slide lengthwise in the bore with saidfilament extending through said slot, and the device having a fastenerpassageway in advance of said plunger when the plunger is retracted,characterized in that said casing is tubular and a handle telescopesover the casing from the rear, the rear end of said plunger beinganchored in said handle so as to be moved back and forth byback-and-forth movement of the handle relatively to the casing.

5. Apparatus according to claim 3 further characterized by a springextending between the casing and handle for actuating the plunger.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said handle has an open rearend and a cap snaps into the open end, said spring bearing on the handlethrough the medium of said cap.

7. For attaching fasteners of the type having filaments, and atransverse bar on one end of each filament, the fasteners beinginterconnected in a strip by a stringer connected to the bars by neckswith the filaments in parallel juxtaposition and the bars extendingtransversely of the stringer in parallel juxtaposition, a devicecomprising a tubular casing, a needle projecting from one end of thecasing, the needle having a central bore and a tail mounted in thecasing, and the casing having a bore in alignment with said bore, aplunger slidable back and forth in said bores, the casing having apassageway for said strip, the passageway extending transversely of thecasing and intersecting said casing bore so that said bars may bebrought successively into alignment with said bores, a rotor havingnotches in its periphery meshing with said necks to feed the bars to thecasing bore, the rotor extending outwardly through a slot in the casingso that it is rotatable by hand, said casing comprising two partssecured together with abutting faces disposed in a plane extendingapproximately along the axes of said bores, the casing having recessesforming said casing bore and passageway.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 further characterized by a detent foryieldingly holding the rotor with a bar in alignment with said bores anda spring for actuating both said plunger and said detent, the detenthaving a nose fitting into the rotor to hold the foremost bar inaccurate alignment with said bores.

9. For attaching fasteners of the type having filaments, and atransverse bar on one end of each filament, the fasteners beinginterconnected in a strip by a stringer connected to the bars by neckswith the filaments in parallel juxtaposition and the bars extendingtransversely of the stringer in parallel juxtaposition, a device com- 56 prising a tubular casing, a needle projecting from one ReferencesCited end of the casing, the needle having a central bore and UNITEDSTATES PATENTS a tail mounted in the casing, and the casing having abore in alignment with said bore, a plunger slidable 'back f 22: l 5 andforth in said bores, the casing having a passageway 5 2729177 1/1956F100 d 112 1O4 for said strip, the passageway extending transversely of3403646 10/1968 Z TIIIII: 112 104 the casing and intersecting saidcasing bore so that said bars may be brought successively into alignmentwith said MERVIN STEIN Prlmary Exammer bores, the rear end of saidneedle comprising a cutting GEORGE V, LARKIN, Assistant Examiner edgedisposed immediately in front of said passageway to 10 US. Cl. X.R.sever each of said necks as the associated bar is advanced by theplunger.

